Pittsburgh International Airport has received a $2 million grant from the state Capital Budget/Transportation Assistance Program for upgrades and safety enhancements.
Airport spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny said the money will be used for a water treatment plant that will capture the chemicals used to keep runways from becoming icy during the winter.
"The stormwater treatment plant is for rescuing de-icing runoff that might end up going into the streams," Jenny said. "It would be helping the McLaren Run and the Enlow Run waters near the airport."
The project plan is already in place, but Jenny said fundraising must continue. The projected cost is more than $47 million, and the state grant raises the current funds to about $25 million.
"Slowly and surely we've been able to gather the funding from the FAA and the state and hopefully we'll be able to put together some plans to begin the next phase of the project," Jenny said.
Jenny assured even when construction begins, runway use will continue as normal.
"It's going to end up being … a state of the art stormwater treatment facility and it won't have any impact on airport operations whatsoever," Jenny said.
